‘The image of the Black Panther superseded its message that the group was desperate to convey to the American public. The outfit, hair, and sunglasses became iconic and displayed an “unapproachable cool” and an alluring romance for an anti-establishment subculture. Their images were dangerous to white America, their message hushed by mainstream media and the FBI, who were concerned that the Black Panthers’ were sympathizing with Communists in China and Cuba. Even representations of the Black Panthers were skewed towards children.
‘I thought it was especially provoking that the FBI would make a children’s book “advocating violence towards white establishments” to exacerbate rivalries and guarantee the extremism of the BPP. This shows that the American government was forceful in sustaining its image as the Righteous and place of the American Dream. Even today, the history and true message of the BPP as American patriots fighting for equal rights, overcoming the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and turning propaganda on its head, is hidden from American education and portrayed as cool, suave gangsters, intent on violence and destruction of democracy.
‘The visual identity of a violent black male is often encouraged to the detriment of female occupation. I thought it was interesting that female leaders of the Black Panthers are often ignored, opting for images of men with guns and sunglasses instead; and that incarceration and assassination of BPP leaders only perpetuated their cause and image further in the press. Even the image of the fist, abstracted and black, is void of other context besides breaking, violence, race, power, and uprising, rarely resulting in self questioning, and questioning of the mainstream historical narrative that has been presented to us in textbooks.’ — Cassandra Tavolarella
‘It began with the Party’s founding in 1966 by Newton and Seale, who met at Merritt (now Laney) College, which, like the Alameda County Courthouse, stands just a few blocks from the Oakland Museum. The Party existed for only 16 years, until 1982. Its immediate influence came quickly after its inception and is illustrated by its meteoric growth: By the end of 1968 the Party had grown to more than 5,000 members in 38 chapters throughout the U.S. By the early 1970s, the FBI’s COINTELPRO (short for Counterintelligence Program) — which had been initiated in 1967 by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate and undermine black nationalist groups — had already taken a deadly toll on the Panthers. Kathleen Cleaver, a lawyer, former Panther and widow of Eldridge Clever, author of Soul on Ice, succinctly observed that: “The Black Panther Party appeared like a comet and it reverberates still.”
‘The Panthers’ manifesto-like ten-point program What We Want Now! (1966), intended to publicize the lack of services and civil rights accorded African-Americans in Oakland, appeared first in the Panther’s weekly newspaper and married a few radical demands, such as exemption from military service (which during the Vietnam war claimed a disproportionate number of black lives), with calls for full employment, “decent housing fit for shelter of human beings” and “land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.” Such demands for constitutionally mandated civil rights and tax-funded services are hardly the stuff of revolution; they are far closer to the rhetoric of Bernie Sanders than Nat Turner. That the Panthers would act on these demands and provide some of the services they called for, including health clinics and children’s breakfast programs, was one source of the Party’s popularity.’ — Robert Atkins
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Further
The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Book: ‘Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers’
Book: ‘Framing the Black Panthers’
Film: ‘Cast & crew User reviews IMDbPro The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution’
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense
MIA: History: USA: The Black Panther Party
Fascination and Fear: Covering the Black Panthers
The Black Panthers – Design after Capitalism
The Black Panther Party’s Impact on Modern Day Activism
Black Panther and the Black Panthers
The Black Panthers: Portraits from an Unfinished Revolution
A timeline of the rise and fall of the Black Panthers
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Extras
All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50
Historical footage and interviews with Black Panthers
All Power To The People – The Black Panther Party & Beyond
Emory Douglas: Art for the People
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Interview with Emory Douglas
The Black Panther organization doesn’t exist anymore. Did it leave behind a blueprint for protestors today?
For those who are aware and conscious, for some of the historical things, they’ve been inspired by [that]. But I think it’s the direct confrontation and contact with the system on a daily basis. That has changed to the point where Brother Floyd’s murder was the spark.
And with COVID-19 at same time, people are beginning to stress over many things. They are seeing how the system really is not what they [thought]. What they were told to believe in is a lie.
There as an article in the New York Times recently on Black politics; about how elected officials today, even African American ones, are not proposing social policies that affect real change. Instead, young leaders and organizers on the ground are. Was it surprising to see that there’s a lack of real leadership among our elected leaders, even African American ones?
Not really. That’s always been the game. They are locked into those institutions. They have to go along with the program. In many ways, they might say things to calm it down or may mean well in what they wanted to do. But they’re so integrated into the corruptness of the system that it doesn’t allow for them to do anything on a broad scale that can be beneficial to the constituency across the board.
I know how crucial it was for you back then to create a visual language for the cause—both in exposing the oppression of African Americans as well as changing the way African Americans depict themselves. What do you think of the role that images play in today’s protests? And how do you think the broad use of social media changes or expands on that?
You guys can reach people almost instantaneously, in real time, because of digital media today. So those dynamics are very powerful. Back in the day, you can have an organization with chapters and branches, like we did across the country. And I was always being interviewed by mainstream publications—otherwise you weren’t able to the message out. The mainstream media needed something to cover, so the civil rights movement and the human rights movements that were taking place were always up front in the news at any given time. In that context, people became highly aware of what was going on. But in today’s world, you can do it 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And that’s why you see worldwide solidarity beginning to exist.
Did you ever think that your depiction of police as pigs would take off as much as it has and become so much a part of our consciousness?
There had always been a psychological response that did transcend the Black Panther Party in the African American community and it became a national and international symbol.
Of course, there had always been political circles where people identified with it [more], but today you got [digital] media now, and people can [easily] pick it up and flash it online. Over the years, when I was working here in San Francisco with the Black press, there was always this awareness and consciousness about that work. It has always been a part of the people’s cultural identity in relationship to how they thought about injustice. The pigs became a psychological symbol of resistance.
When did your work start getting recognition from the art community, and from art institutions? When is the first time someone reached out to you about exhibiting your work?
Gallery 32 in Los Angeles [was the first]. As far as overall interest of galleries, that has come about later on. That came along with more awareness of what was going on in the real world. When Black lives matter to others. And even before that, when you had more liberal and progressive folks who began to work in the museum, and they began to look at and frame it as part of American history.
And I began to communicate and more talk more [around the time] my art book came out.
The book you worked on with Sam Durant in 2006?
Yes. I began to travel to colleges and universities, doing collaborations all over the place. That became the way that many museums got interested in the work.
Plus, you began to have a lot of scholars of color who began to write about the work. All the different films that you begin to see, or documentaries around the Black Panther Party—and the artwork would always be highlighted. It was being talked about and discussed—the visual importance of what was happening during that time. So you have all those dynamics that play into how the images became acceptable in the context of the museum world.
When I did the [show] at MOCA in Los Angeles, it was Sam Durant who had an installation there at that time. [The museum] gave him the option of doing whatever he wanted to do—presentations and talks. And that’s why he tried to contact me—because he said he was inspired by the work. And when I did a talk, it was packed. But you had people who normally don’t come to museums—a lot of social justice and community people. And they saw that as a possibility for a new audience coming to museums. So when [Sam Durant] approached them about having an exhibition, they jumped on it.
They were just underestimating the interest, which isn’t surprising.
Yes. And then I went to New York to the Studio Museum in Harlem and the [New Museum], they were collaborating together. And the same thing there, sold out.
Once I went to Argentina, a [design collective] called Trimarchi [invited me to their art event]. They held it in a huge stadium, like an NBA-sized stadium.
So you had all these young artists, about 5,000 or 6,000 of them. Some of them in the corridor of the outside [with] their art installations, selling artwork.
They said to me that right now, they’re coming to the point where they’re trying to be more conscious of including political artwork into the discussion, so that’s why they invited me. After the presentation, I got such a [good reception], I thought, what was it they found so stimulating? And it occurred to me that they could see in the art the resistance and self-determination and they could apply it to some of the things they were dealing with in their lives, in their countries. So the art became a link of solidarity, transcending borders—continuing on with these young people.
Do you think it’s interesting that as more of these clashes are happening, museums are collecting protest images in real time?
Yes, like at the Smithsonian. Again and again, it’s young folks in there who can do it now, who couldn’t do it before. That’s one of the keys. Because there was a time when you would have exhibits—not necessarily radical exhibits—that they would claim were immoral. They were trying to close them down. Now you’ve got [people] coming there, students who graduate from universities who were a part of the movement in some kind of way, or in solidarity [with the movement], or thought of it as free consciousness or free speech. Then they have their kids who they talk about their history to. And then that transmits to what you see today in opening up the museums in many ways.
Do you feel like that interest is going to continue? Especially on the institutional side?
Well, you have so many demands now. And Black and brown artists who are talking about it. And white artists who are opting out of working in museums—and particularly doing stuff in museums where they got all these colonial powers on these boards. All those things are being exposed. That is shifting stuff.
People are speculating that today’s protest movement is going to change how institutions operate generally with respect to social justice. Do you feel as though this is going to precipitate real change?
It’s a worldwide thing now. They could shove it off before and call it insignificant. But you can’t do that anymore because this is a worldwide protest against bigotry and racism.
So you’re optimistic?
You can be optimistic and, at the same time, the question becomes: has it been ingrained enough to make it happen as it should at this point in time? Or will it be a drawn-out, incremental process?
Well, I certainly hope you still get the proper attention on your work.
It’s more so the fact that 50 years later, the artwork still has relevancy to it. Because we still have some of the same things happening now as happening then. You have young people who see that. When I do a talk, they’ll say, “Well, you could just tweak this and tweak that, and it could be 50 years later.”
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Show
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Unknown The Black Panther Coloring Book (1968)
‘One prurient document that surfaced in the late 1960s was The Black Panther Coloring Book. Opinions differ as to its origins. One story goes that the FBI, concerned about the popularity of the Party’s Free Breakfast Programme for schools, designed the book and distributed it to shops and community organisations sympathetic to the Panthers. Another, more complex theory alleges that the book was created by an eager new party recruit, but was subsequently denounced as racist and too violent by the BPP before copies fell into COINTELPRO’s hands. The crude drawings depicting gun-toting children and wild pigs in police uniform would seem laughably crass if it weren’t for the needless loss of life incurred by both sides throughout the BPP’s troubled existence.’
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Renée Cox Black Panther Last Supper (1993)
‘Black Panther Last Supper, modeled after Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (ca. 1495–98), was Cox’s first intervention in religious imagery. The work was made during Cox’s time in the Whitney Independent Study Program in 1992–93, and many of her friends from the program appear in the photograph—acting surprised. What could be the reason? Is it the anticipated betrayal or the fact that Jesus is a woman, wears an Afro, and is a Black Panther? When Cox first created Black Panther Last Supper, she saw it as too radical to exhibit.’
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Dana Chandler Fred Hampton’s Door 2 (1974)
‘Chandler created the piece in 1974 as a statement. It’s a bullet-ridden door with frame painted in the symbolic green and red of the Pan-African Flag that represents solidarity among people of African decent. The artist splattered more red paint across his wooden canvas that looks like blood. He also added a pale blue seal to the door’s top right corner with four white stars and the words “U.S. Approved.”’
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Kevin Beasley Chair of the Ministers of Defense (2016)
‘New York–based artist Kevin Beasley creates an elaborate environment inspired by Bernini’s Baroque altarpiece in Saint Peter’s Basilica and an infamous image of Black Panther Huey P. Newton. The installation is a contemporary interpretation of Bernini’s seventeenth-century Baroque altarpiece in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Beasley replaces Saint Peter’s chair with a wicker “peacock” chair of the type that became iconic after Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton was photographed seated in one holding a shotgun in one hand and a spear in the other. In Beasley’s remix, two historical references are united to create an environment that is bold and lively while simultaneously ghostly and mournful.’
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Stephen Shames Various (1968-1971)
‘I don’t know how it happened but at one point I started. I must have gone by the Panther office, neither Bobby Seale nor I can remember, but I went by and they liked my pictures and they wanted to use them in their paper so I started taking pictures for them. But really I hadn’t been a photographer for even a whole year. I wasn’t a professional and I didn’t quite know what I was doing.’ — Stephen Shames
Boy gives raised fist salute as he and a friend sit on a statue in front of the New Haven County Courthouse during a demonstration during the Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins trial, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, May 1, 1970
Kathleen Cleaver, communications secretary and the first female member of the Party’s decision-making Central Committee, talks with Black Panthers from Los Angeles, in West Oakland, California, USA, July 28, 1968
George Jackson funeral at St. Augustine’s Church. Glen Wheeler and Claudia Grayson, known as Sister Sheeba, stand in front. Clark Bailey, known as Santa Rita has cigarette in his mouth. 2nd row: Van Hilliard, John Seale, Van Taylor, Oakland, California, August 28, 1971
Sand bags line the walls of the New Haven Panther office to protect against a suspected police raid during the Bobby Seal trial, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, May 1, 1970
Free Huey Rally in Front of the Alameda County Courthouse, Oakland, September 1968
Panthers Line Up At A Free Huey Rally in DeFremery Park. Oakland, July 28, 1968
George Jackson’s Funeral. Panthers Look at the Enormous Crowd Gathered Across the Street From St. Augustine’s Church, Oakland
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Juan Antonio Olivares The Panther (2024)
Acrylic paint and graphite powder on aluminum honeycomb panel
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Adam Pendleton My Education, A Portrait of David Hilliard (2017)
‘My Education: A Portrait of David Hilliard takes viewers to the site of a fatal 1968 gun battle between Black Panther Party activists and the police of Oakland, California. Hilliard, a founding member of the BPP, recalls the shootout from half a century earlier, describing how police followed and surrounded the Panthers, initiating the attack. My Education’s quiet, contemplative mood and luminescent black-and-white images contrast with and trouble Hilliard’s descriptions of violence and eruption, inviting discussion about a fraught moment in American history.’
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Robert Wade The Time (1967)
Photograph
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Agnes Varda Black Panthers (1968)
‘Agnès Varda turns her camera on an Oakland demonstration against the imprisonment of activist and Black Panthers cofounder Huey P. Newton. In addition to evincing Varda’s fascination with her adopted surroundings and her empathy, this perceptive short is also a powerful political statement.’
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Charles Gaines Black Panther Manifesto (1966)
‘Gaines revisits the revolutionary manifesto by Black Panther Party to investigate the indescribable power that extends beyond the content of words. He applies his rules-based methodology to develop a musical composition and envelop us in a starscape that disrupts our understanding of rational information and its transmission.’
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Pirkle Jones and Ruth-Marion Baruch Untitled (1968)
Photograph
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Henry Taylor Untitled (2023)
‘Taylor created this installation in homage to the Black Panther Party and, in particular, to his brother Randy, who was active in the Party’s branch in Ventura, California. The Black Panthers advocated for self-defense and community empowerment, and established social programs—including free food, clothing distribution, and health clinics—to uplift marginalized communities. By including photographs of individuals recently killed by the police alongside mannequins clothed in both the black berets and leather jackets the Panthers typically wore and more contemporary attire, such as Colin Kaepernick’s San Francisco 49ers jersey, Taylor connects protests against racial injustice from the past and present.’
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Unknown Black Panthers mural, Hoyne Ave. at W. Madison St., Chicago (1989)
Photograph
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Lorraine Dudley Feed Everyone (for the Black Panthers) (1969)
‘The only information we have on this poster is what is handwritten on the back: “Poster made by Lorraine Dudley /for Black Panther Party/Be-in Cambridge Common 1969?” We have no more information about this image, or Lorraine Dudley. Poster must be very rare as we can’t find this image anywhere else.’
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Lothar Hempel Performance (2015)
‘I combined 2 images – Kathleen Cleaver, an activist and the wife of Eldridge Cleaver, one of the leaders of the Black Panthers, during a speech she held in Oakland in the late sixties and a photograph from Dave Gahan, lead singer of Depeche Mode in one of their first concerts in 1981.’ — Lothar Hempel
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Emory Douglas Various (1968-1971)
‘Known both as a political activist and an artist, Emory Douglas was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 to the 1980’s, when the Party disbanded. As the art director and the main illustrator for “The Black Panther”, the weekly newspaper of the organization, he broadcasted his graphic art from Oakland to a national and international audience of readers. His bold lines, reminiscent of woodblock printing, and the way he portrayed the oppressed not as victims but as rebels ready to take up arms, made his style unique. The circulation of his drawings on a large scale through the press allowed him to imprint on the collective imagination, making his art both popular and iconic.’
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Willis Thomas Raise Up (1970)
Bronze
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Elizabeth Catlett Homage to the Panthers (1993)
‘In her prints, paintings, and sculptures, Elizabeth Catlett united a modernist approach to structure with a political sensibility informed by her experiences as a Black woman. She drew from family memories and autobiographical source material as she composed expressive portraits and busts that lionized the intricacies of Black identity: Labor, historical struggles, and the civil rights movement were frequent themes.’
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Karon Davis No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (2023)
‘Bobby Seale, bound and gagged in a Chicago courtroom, is one of the most searing images in American history. The image of Bobby Seale, physically restrained but defiant, has haunted the artist Karon Davis for many years.’
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Sam Durant Proposal for a monument to Huey Newton at Alameda County Courthouse, Oakland, CA (2004)
‘A bronze sculpture of a wicker chair mounted onto a mirror polished stainless steel plate. This chair is a copy of the one used by Huey P. Newton (founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense) in the famous poster for the BPP. This work takes place in a series of “theoretical monuments” he has been making over the last several years which are monuments’ proposal embodying a utopia. This monument would theoretically be erected on the plaza in front of the Alameda County Courthouse where many of Newton’s (and many other Party members) famous trials were located. It was the scene of many rallies and protests for the release of political prisoners during Newton’s leadership of the Black Panther Party.’
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Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale The Ten-Point Program (1967)
‘The Ten-Point Program is a set of guidelines to the Black Panther Party and states their ideals and ways of operation, a “combination of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.” The document was created in 1966 by the founders of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, whose political thoughts lay within the realm of Marxism and Black Nationalism. Each one of the statements were put in place for all of the Black Panther Party members to live by and actively practice every day. The Ten-Point Program was released on May 15, 1967 in the second issue of the party’s weekly newspaper, The Black Panther. All succeeding 537 issues contained the program, titled “What We Want Now!.”’
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Simone Leigh Sentinel (2019)
bronze, raffia
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Kyle Goen Black Panther Party Stamp Book (2021)
‘A portfolio of 25 different stamps, printed on dry gum adhesive paper with pinhole perforation. Housed in a blue Asahi book cloth clamshell box which is screen printed with the Black Panther Party logo. Also with screen printed inside front and back pages on paper. Signed and numbered on the inside back page of the clam-shell box and on the backs of each print. The stamp pages measure 8.5 x 11 inches, and there are 20 stamps per page.
‘The Black Panther Party Stamp Book was in part a corrective response to the above lyric from Public Enemy’s legendary song “Fight the Power”, which first appeared on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing. The piece is a tactile, introductory immersion into the history of the Black Panther Party, with its functional material form amplifying the iconic subject matter, and hopefully (as the artist fully intends) catalyzing further engagement, research and, action. Meta-note – on August 30, 2021 Public Enemy re-posted an image of the Fred Hampton stamp in honor of Hampton’s birthday.’
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p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I definitely looked around while dodging lots of grubby sunburned hands. Your brother has such excellent taste! The first six Sly and The Family Stone albums are as good as things get. On the opposite side of things, love wondering why he listened to this silly if brutally catchy late 90s chestnut fourteen times in a row yesterday while experiencing minor but effective joy, G. ** David Ehrenstein, Much agreed about Morgan Fisher, one of the four (at least) truly great living LA-based experimental filmmakers: Fisher, Thom Anderson, James Benning, Pat O’Neill. Wild story/fact about the Sonbert impersonation. That’s hilarious. My cold has taken residence in my right ear, and I am trying hard to evict it. ** Charlie, Hi! I’m glad you’re good, and I’m glad you’re not incapable of bad too. 10/10! I’ll be curious to see or hear about what you come up with via Blender if that interest holds. ** nat, Hi. My blog is rather poorly organised historically. I should organise that somehow. Yes, haha, my little Honore cameo/role. The whole film was improvised. Christophe just told me to be insulting and mean to François Sagat because he was very thin-skinned, and, sure enough, after we shot that scene (and during, quite visibly) François wanted to kill me, and I think still does. I would start with/stick to Christophe’s earlier films (2000-2014) because they’re by far his best. Writing a sexually passive character is much harder than writing the sexually active character, I think, but if you don’t enter the passive character fully, it just ends up being sexy, blah. I’ll go check out Asaba Harumasa once I’m outta here. ‘120 Days’ is hard to talk/write about, although there are those who’ve done so brilliantly. Enjoy today. ** Mark, Hi, Mark! My summer has sucked so far, but I’m surviving. Yes, I live two blocks from the Olympics, and it’s very much like living in a prison at the moment. Very cool about NYPL. I don’t know if I have a blurb about Gregg. We knew each other a little and were friendly back in the day. At one point there was book published of the scripts of ‘Totally Fucked Up’ and ‘The Living End’, and I wrote the intro to ‘TFU’, although they misprinted it as the intro to ‘TLE’. He considered directing the ‘Frisk’ film, but didn’t, sadly for the film and me. I haven’t seen any of his films post-‘Mysterious Skin’ for no good reason. I like ‘Nowhere’, I’m not as high on ‘Doom Generation’. That’s my Gregg spiel. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. I think I remember that Bret told me reading Wharton is what inspired him to write ‘The Shards’ if I’m remembering correctly. No PTv2 for me yet because yesterday was a horrible day, but hopefully today. ** Lucas, Hi! Oh, I’m sorry about the heat. It’s cool and raining here, and I hope that slides through the sky over to you. No, the meeting yesterday was extremely depressing. Things are awful, and we’re trying to figure what we can do. I’m so honored if my wisely recognising your great talent has helped you at all. It’s a thrill for me, pal. I think that speaks to your creative potential, right? Sometimes the worse ones become the best ones when written down or visualised, but of course I would think that, wouldn’t I? My subconscious is trying to lower the temperature around you as I type. ** Uday, Hi. Oh, god, I’m so, so sorry about your bad news. That’s so sad to hear, I’m so sorry. I hope your heart toughs it out. ** chris dankland, Ah, there you are! Dude, that project was so great. It really has a kind of masterpiece quality about it. I think I’ve decided to put ‘Longlegs’ on the way back burner. Thank you for the reinforcement. God knows there are plenty of other options to watch Nicolas Cage be fun. I’m really glad you got into the Morgan Fisher work. I love his stuff so much. Yes, Zac and I shoot digitally for a million reasons. Cost is a big one since you can do as many takes of a scene as you want, and we honestly just like the way it looks, how clear it is, without any film-caused romanticism or anything. But that suits the work we want to make. It also a million times easier to edit. I’m also really glad you liked Gabriel’s book. I think she’s really an amazing writer, one of the most exciting out there. I don’t know the Rick Claypool book, but I’ll hunt it. Thanks, Chris. Obviously so, so great to see you! ** Dev, As a friend of many friends who are parents, I just do not even understand how its possible to do that with the necessary minutiae-centric attention and appropriate combination of generosity and caution. Incredible. It sounds NO around Xmas would be a good time? Hm, I don’t know, I’ll try to figure it out. If/when I get there, we must absolutely meet for a coffee, etc. Absolutely! ** Misanthrope, Ah, a made up term, good, intrigue solved. Sounds like plenty of fun. I’m feeling better except for one ear. I’m sure Celtic music is just fine and dandy, but Celtic rock? That’s a big question mark. Wasn’t Big Country a kind of Celtic rock band? I couldn’t stand them, for instance. ** Jeff J, Hey, Jeff! Welcome back! Don’t know, about ‘Progress of Stories’ coming back. I guess I didn’t realise it’s o.o.p. Strange. Great that you’re working on the trilogy. Next week, sure. You can distract me from the Olympics. Let me know. ** Charalampos, My pleasure. No, I receive no emails with lost comments, no. I don’t think I’d even want to. You’re either on time around here or you’re history. If they ever reprint the Cycle books, I would definitely want to change the covers of Closer, Frisk, and Try. They look very ‘period’ to me now. Thank you, and vibes back. ** Dom Lyne, Hi, Dom. I think I do too. I think ‘phew’ has some kind of negative output in my head for some reason. Zac tends to concentrate on the visualisation aspect, so it’s usually more him suggesting settings or new scenes or more/less movement or different props/items and things like that than actual issues with the dialogue or narrative itself. Right, because even though you don’t literally describe the characters and settings and things, you still have to have that worked out in your head and in a kind minimal written code, and that is a similar amount of work, I think. Thanks for talking about that. It’s really interesting. Great luck with the MOT if you need it. xoxo. ** Harper, Swift trip home today. It’s cool and raining here, so I hope that extends over the channel. I don’t like to think about what eggs are either, but I do really like a good cheese omelet. Well, no incrimination from me about your restarting smoking, obviously. I’m in the club. There are worse things, or so I tell myself. No guilt, pal. Your friends will get used to with a cig on your hand very quickly. Ugh, landlord shit. Try not to let it cloud you up. ** Poecilia, Greetings to you! Oh, that’s nice namesake fish, at least in my speedy google check. Sleek and suave. I’ve never read Hanya Yanagihara. There was so much hype around ‘A Little Life’ when it came out that I kind of avoided it. Half of my friends implored me to read it and the other half told me I would despise it. So she’s a mystery. No one I know liked ‘To Paradise’. It sounds from what you say about it that I should buckle down and read her, no? I really should. I wish I could give you helpful thoughts about her work. I’m grateful you’re including my work in your writing about her. It’s an honor. ** Thomas H, Hi! He’s great, really, he is. And a truly fantastic talker/writer too. I just read that Araki is making a new film about ‘Generation Z’s’ supposed fear or dislike around having sex. Curious. Ultimately it sounds like a fruitful trip, including the truncation. Have you seen James Franco’s ‘My Own Private River’ film made of outtakes from ‘Idaho’? There are some really beautiful things in it. Thank you so much about ‘Flunker’. I just finally got my copies and was able to actually look at it yesterday. Anyway, really, thank you, I’m so happy you enjoy it. You have a great week yourself! ** Darbyy (●’◡’●), Oh, that is odd. Maybe that’s why I only seem to get spam comments maybe once a year. That is a strange weekend. Mine was completely dreadful too albeit for different reasons if that helps. I don’t know why but I’m thinking if you have you choose between feeling like God or dead, dead is better. That makes no sense. A poem, yay! I think my hair is currently okay. Your one-legged barber friend is tempting though. Is your hair blacked? xo. ** Justin D, Hi, Justin, Yes, the film, and unfortunately the meeting only made things much worse. But enough gloom. The only Ruben Östlund film I’ve seen is ‘Force Majeure’, and I liked it, but I literally like every disaster movie, so I don’t know if that means anything. I’ve been meaning to watch ‘‘Triangle of Sadness’ for ages. Okay, I will. Enjoy the restoration! ** Oscar 🌀, Ho! I prefer peppermint personally. Spearmint makes my teeth act weird. Or feel weird, I mean. Yes, Extra is my go-to gum manufacturer. Cool. High five! I’ll be on the next train to that cave prepared to take the best selfie ever. When you come to Paris I’ll introduce you to the homeless guy on acid who stands in front of a parked Maserati all day every day saying, ‘Hey, you, oscarillate!’ Speaking of, you’re coming to Paris! Yes, I would love to have a wee coffee with you. Uh, hit me up when you know when would be good. My email, if you don’t have it, is [email protected]. It’s be awesome to meet you, needless to say! Muckless Tuesday for you, coming right up. ** Right. Today you are spending the day with The Black Panthers or rather with art made by or about them. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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hi. I’m really sorry to hear things are still bad, I’m wishing you guys the best. the weather’s much better over here today, thankfully, so your subconscious was successful. haha, yeah, of course you’d think that, but it’s a good way to see it. the worst dreams I remember having usually revolve around me unwittingly being a accomplice to a murder in some way, which is not something i usually think about when awake, but i guess it’s interesting to analyze. what’s funny about them is that I always remember being stressed out about really practical/logistical things during them, like it’s kind of kafkaesque, I guess, if you think about it.
you’re also partly responsible for reigniting my love for halloween, which i’m so thankful for, and i realized the other day that i actually have two weeks off during october every year so it’d be possible for me to go someplace where I can actually celebrate it. I’ve been looking at a lot of haunted houses/experiences online lately and I know I’d probably have a terrible time but I still want to try it so bad that it might loop back around to being fun. I’d really love to be in japan during october, it seems like they’re always so hyped for halloween, it’s awesome. and los angeles, too, duh. anyway, sorry for the random rant haha. I hope your tuesday was much less bleak than the previous days.
unwillingly* just noticed this typo oops. sometimes I let autocorrect get too far
Sorry you’re still feeling badly. Get Well.
Glad you’ve provided a link to Agnes Varda’s film. Agnes was always on top of everything, especially in L/A.
The bound and gagged Bobby Seale sculpture reminds us what the Rethuglicans want TODAY. Meanwhile the Democrats are woring overtime to elect a black femal POTUS. And they will
Here’s my piece about Leonard Bernstein, the black panthers and the racist scumbag Tom Wolfe
https://gaycitynews.com/the-trouble-with-lenny/
Oh Life !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxudei3zqBA
Dennis you should have a River Day.
Dennis hi!! Oh sorry yr not feeling well. Also sorry I missed a week of DC Blog. Just got back fr exhausting/smash NY Myth Lab launches. Lots to relate!! And its Flunkermania there too! Our QA comes out I think next week. more soon….xoxox Jack
The BPs always were the coolest of subcultural groups, and their style still holds up well imo. Thank you for this show!
I’m proud to say that my maternal grandparents were in the Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party. That chapters was less self-defense centered (although that was still prioritized), and focused largely on the food program, education, and later healthcare. It’s where the discovery of sickle cell anemia among black Americans was first noted. So naturally any works about the BPP I am willing to dive all the way into.
A lot of these I’ve seen before, but I’m endlessly fascinated by the coloring book. It’s such an outrageous psyop of a product, but there’s something bold about how it’s presented all the same.
By the way, I finally got around to sending the email of my monologue play from this month’s production! I’ll have to dig around for the first that was produced in 2022, but I’m sure this one makes as good an impression as well.
Glad the sickness is passing somewhat, and I hope the post-production mess gets sorted sooner rather than later.
Sly’s SMALL TALK is really underrated – for me, that’s the end of his imperial era.
The Apple Store refused to work on my laptop because I had taken it to a 3rd-party repair shop in the past! I got it back yesterday, but I’m furious at them. I have another repair shop in mind, and I’ll call them again Thursday, but I will not be able to get the battery replaced till August.
Here’s my review of Caden Mark Gardner and Willow Catelyn Maclay’s trans film history CORPSES, FOOLS AND MONSTERS: https://artsfuse.org/295266/book-review-corpses-fools-and-monsters-the-history-and-future-of-trans-lives-in-cinema/
Any breakthroughs on the film in sight? When will you hear back from the big fall festivals?
Hi!!
I knew/know very little about the Black Panthers. This post is fascinating. Thank you so much!
Well, not Sly and the Family Stone, but this Republica song really is brutally catchy. And, you know, experiencing minor but effective joy shouldn’t be underrated. Love traveling the world as a storm chaser, Od.
Black Panthers, Crystal Castles shares a song name. Actually right now for college project im making an African mask because we learned about the history of Africa and it branched over to contemporary forms of social justice art regarding racial inequality and even some art in the book was from members of the black Panthers so its super cool seeing this as a deeper dive.
My hair isn’t black although I want it black. I might have it dyed soon.
Your right that I dont get what you meant by being dead sounds better than God, though maybe you thought I was talking about “Dead” from Mayhem especially with the bed thing, haha. I like Mayhem, speaking of which, you told me you saw them live I think but another good black metal band is Bathory,
I know they are known but I like them. Are you the person who jams out to metal or is strangely stoic. I think you have a good taste obviously since you like The Melvins and Boris.
I realise that “C ya” isnt a very friendly or mature goodbye so instead I say:
goodbye from my Grandpas laptop and I hope your week gives you like a copious amount of strawberry pockies, no exceptions because thats the best flavor, and whatever asshole may cross our paths will not get even one stick of a pockie instead they’ll have a large stick showed up their precious holes. (And not in the fun way)
Im going to the store to get pockies after this.
Hi Dennis!
Well shit, it seemed like willing you better health worked for a day and failed. Sorry ’bout that.
Adore this post, as well as the cannibals one from last week but didn’t get a chance to say so. Internet was out here for a few days (fallen tree, I’m kind of in the sticks) which used to be fine (about 10 years ago I would intentionally not pay for it every few months just to have it cut off and take a break but now I live with someone who asked me to please stop doing that plus the job I have right now needs me to keep it on at home).
The editing of Casey Anthony, Renowned Trapeze Artist (thank you so much for the kind words on the title, I don’t know the film you mentioned but will see it as soon as possible based on what you said) is kicking my ass right now. Ever written something (ahem, The Marbled Swarm) and thought ‘fuck, now I gotta fix it?” (cue Thome Yorke saying you do it to yourself).
Speaking of seeing or not seeing films… saw it mentioned above but would like to reiterate… Longlegs… I saw it on Saturday… was pretty excited about it… wouldn’t go so far as to advise not seeing it ever but would totally advise not taking the effort to leave your home to do so. That’s all I’ll say about it since it’s on your backburner.
Back to work, not the silly kind that pays for food, but writing.
for the love of somebody, feel better
P.S. on NPR today there was a full hour on the intricacies, successes, and failures of past and present Olympic uniform design. Given your local proximity and the hyperfocus of some of it (such as “how many crystals are on an gymnasts’ uniform and why”), thought I’d mention it as a protentional thing of interest.
Dennis- Hearing yr not doing well- sad news-yes? Just film stuff or physical? Both?- Feel better 4sure. My ask: Is yr work really mostly fantasy fulfillment? The ‘follow yr obsession’ thing is there, but it looks through such a small window of experience and character it seems largely self-gratifying. A fun and complex puzzle u make for yrself, speaking some to alienation and objectification, sometimes nuanced. No judgement here, I like the narrowness of yr work- art can gratify and bludgeon and it doesnt have to mean or ‘do’ anything (per Oscar Wilde, right?)- Peter Sotos’ writing is unapologetically solipsistic- I like how honest he is abt what he wants. He even kinda turns the tables on himself as he goes- nearly begging the victim to play the role 2his sadist. Its like he doesnt quite have the stamina for the thing, and while I dont need him to buckle I like this weakness- its sexy- its fulfilling. Then there’s his stuff abt the grieving mothers- focusing on their pain as his pleasure- well, that part’s kindof obvious- like that’s everywhere anyway- care is getting shit-on pretty much universally. Like, if u care, yr invisible or u must be a dick
anyway I think we’re often on the make really as artists- cruising or whatever all the time and u just can’t underestimate the force of sex behind nearly anything we make (meybe 4the girls too but I think theyre more inclined to the abstract possibilities of care over time- its different and why they can take ugly men or not habitually leave newborns to die in the woods)
hey- This may b out of pocket but if no-one ever, ever were 2read yr work would u still write it? Like a tree falling in the forest kindof silence? I think u said here that you wrote stories as a kid that were like this- yr mom found them and friends thought they were ‘weird’- You call yrself weird alot but it sounds like someone else’s voice coming out of yr mouth Seriously, who would find you or yr work weird? Maybe someone really conservative (like yr upbringing? Like Reaganites? like the pornophobe dip-shits pushing for the Comstock act 2day?) so where’s it ‘weird’? Stuff like yrs has been making the rounds for centuries so… its like a normal reaction to the Grand Social Illusion (cue commercials, flags n fireworks).
Anyway- thanks for making the blog (Black Panther post YES! While u sound sometimes like a rich white guy and seem 2live that life I think the blog sneaky-dog-style puts the lie to it) and I liked My Loose Thread alot- actually I’ll say love I think somehow it fixed an idea in my mind of those kids, the ones who go for it, and the diffusion of their minds. We just had one like that the kid who shot at trmp lived 2 doors down from where I grew up n that doesn’t surprise me at all The Burbs (hey have u read much Ballard? His take is interesting, so is Ivy Compton Burnett’s- Shirley Jackson too)
Uh and if 20th c psychology has basically replaced death with our bad childhoods- you know- as the thing we’re all pushing against as artists, hey I’ll say yr work twists the short and curlies of that paradigm nicely- right?
Nice talking 2U- ttyl if yr down w/it- Prze
Haha, yeah, hmm, we’ll see. I’m guessing you’re at least vaguely aware of the existence of those ‘popper trainer’ type porn videos? There’ll be a driving beat and some kind of instructional stuff (inhale for X seconds, hold, etc) maybe spoken, maybe just text on the screen, all chopped up with hardcore porn and designed to turn the viewer into a sort of brain dead penis-zombie. I find them strangely fascinating, even though I super don’t like poppers (a shortcut to a splitting headache, imo). Anyway, I figured trying to construct something similarly mind-melting would be a fun way to learn some new skills and, y’know, so far so good, I’m getting the basics of editing down. Who knows, maybe I’m the guy who crafts the Citizen Kane of popper videos, whatever that means. Ha.
Hey! I got back earlier today. I don’t know what time it is even if there’s only a one hour time difference. I looked back on some of the writing and revisions I did before I left and it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it was. I just needed some sunlight.
Even after being outside all day in the sun I will not tan. I must have looked vampirish. It’s not my look anyway, but I’ve never tanned in my life. I haven’t even been sunburnt.
Yeah, I don’t know why I felt like I had to confess to you that I’d started smoking again like I was in a confessional. I think it was because I was about to mention the Tobacco shop culture in Spain and my smoker status occurred to me. Tobacco isn’t generally sold in convenience stores and supermarkets in Spain, only in the Tobacco shops on every corner, and oh yeah, I found out about those Che Guevara cigarettes which I thought were funny. Being from the UK which is one of the least smoker tolerant countries it felt like a time capsule entering them, but I guess basically everywhere else in Europe it’s not really a novelty.
Love that stamp book! I started collecting stamps when I was a kid and gave up but told people for a while that philately was my great passion. I think I just liked saying the word.
I was actually thinking about that Public Enemy line recently in regards to heroes and stamps and thinking about if I’ve ever directly seen my own heroes on stamps. In France they’ve honoured quite a few great writers on stamps, but I can’t remember seeing any of my heroes on a letter with my own eyes.
It seems like you’ve been through it recently, I know you’ll find a way through it, though your head cold seems like it came at a pretty lousy time. I’m going to give you a random ‘oblique strategies’ card message which sometimes facilitates something positive in me:
‘Do we need holes?’
There you go, do with that what you wish.
Regarding ‘A Little Life’ the thoughts you gave were and are helpful thoughts, and I am grateful for your response. The half of your friends that guessed you would hate it are likeliest to be right. I might defend ‘A Little Life’ now that I’ve read it, at the same time I cannot recommend it to read. It’s more than 700 pages and somehow manages to not have a writing style. It’s a formalist no-man’s land. Every page turned is the scythe of a miniature grim reaper that harvested moments from your life that you could’ve spent being happy instead, or solving real-life problems.
There was a stageplay adaptation that got professionally recorded and released on a streaming service (in Dutch, on ITA Live) and late last year in cinemas (U.K. English translation) that I think improved on the story a lot only by condensing it… But if you never have access to the stageplay recording, four hours to spare, and the desire to watch something of a declawed mashup of ‘Closer’ and ‘Safe’ then you’re not missing out on anything.
Hi DC. I’m so sorry to hear that Paris has been stressful, I cant handle summer in the same way that you can’t. It’s just a spiral of emotional chaos for me, and seems like for you as well. Flunker finally arrived, i’m excited to read it. I’m doing Car Crash Collective on Friday with Jack Shelley’s homegirls, so that’s nice to be in LA. I’m premiering new material, it’ll be fun. It’s an honour i’m a headliner. I re watched Totally Fucked Up last week with a group of zoomer boys, they were in shock. I love the reference to you. Anyways, I still feel like this week has been a series of non linear upsets but it’s nice to write you.
Cool, just let me know if/when you’re gonna be in town then! Yeah, around December is probably best if you want cool weather. March/April is another nice time but it still gets pretty hot by late April, though not quite the summer oven I’m currently baking in. Had to skim this post but want to return to it when I have more time. Looks very interesting. My parents are visiting, which is stressful since they’re big Trumpers and like to try to pick political fights every time they see me lol. Sorry you seem to be having a rough time; hope things start going your way soon.
Hey Dennis – Really nice Black Panthers day. I didn’t realize how much interesting art was inspired by them. Fred Hampton’s door really stuck with me. Did you ever see the doc ‘The Murder of Fred Hampton’? It was made shortly after the event. Really stirring.
Glad next week works for Zoom. I’ll email you shortly about some possible days. I’m pretty open.
My trilogy is really close to being… done, I think. Almost hesitate to type that. I’ve done several major restructurings of it and it’s certainly much improved from earlier iterations. I wish it didn’t take me so long to get things to cohere the way I want.
How is the new screenplay coming along?
I read a recent interview where you mentioned being intrigued by the idea of a horror novel. I could see that being super interesting — the challenge of messing with that genre and making it your own. Is that possibility percolating anywhere in your brain still?
Quite a compendium of artifacts today, Dennis. That coloring book, whew.
I’m back home, good to escape the sauna-like conditions. Saw Oddity earlier, this new Irish horror movie that’s been getting some buzz. Some good art direction, but overall kind of a mess (and not in a good way). Popped into a bookstore and they had the new edition of Eugene Lim’s first novel. No sign of Flunker though, hrumph.
Hope things are not too unbearable with the Olympics starting up.
Bill
Can you ask Zac whether he can fact-check if Greta’s dad was?
Hi Dennis!
Thank you for this Black Panthers showcase. It’s an enormous and important part of American history, and had influences rippling worldwide…I read Assata Shakur’s autobiography earlier this year, and it was really intensely good. The awful things that police were (and are) allowed to do to people that governments consider as “threats”…
Cool to hear Araki’s working on a new film – Gen Z’s attitudes toward sex and sexuality (and sexual content in general) are interesting and troubling in different ways, so I wonder what his angle will be. I have a lot of thoughts on the subject myself.
‘My Own Private River’ sounds interesting – my tolerance for James Franco is pretty slim but I’ll check it out on your recommendation. For another ‘Idaho’ coincidence, I just picked up a copy of Keanu Reeves’s new novel that he made with China Miéville – ‘The Book of Elsewhere’, based on Keanu’s action-adventure comic BRZRKR (which I’ve not read). So I’m curious to see how both men’s voices intertwine in a novel setting…
I’m typing this at 1am so you might not read this. I wrote some of it earlier but then got very distracted by jobhunting! Oh no!